Dog In The Fellowship
by TheWall
Summary: After dying in her own world, Nat must accustom herself to a new form in a new world, and try to figure out what her purpose is. R and R plz
1. Chapter One

Howdy to anyone who is reading this! To anyone who asks, I am slowly writing some more chapters to my other stories eg: Moony's Story but I'm going to be doing this one now as well. And hopefully update more often on this one too.

Disclaimer: Lord of the Rings is a brilliant movie and book. Sadly not mine though. Natalie Grant IS mine.

By the way, this is a MarySue I think. I'm unsure of the definition of MarySue so if someone feels like explaining it then please enlighten me (nicely). I'm assuming it means some girl out of our world into the LOTR.

I like those stories though so I thought I'd try and write one. If you don't like MS then no one is forcing you to read it. Happy reading guys!

Prologue: Between Worlds

White.

That was the first thing I noticed as I swam back to consciousness. I sat up cautiously, checking for injuries of any description. There were none.Apparently whatever had happened didn't do anything to me except knock me out. My next thought following was: what on earth DID happen? The last thing I remember was taking my brother down to the shops with me for some milk. Shaking my head, I decided to contemplate that later. For now, I took the opportunity to check out my surroundings. What the hell? I was in a white light with absolutely nothing in it except the couch I was currently lying on. This was like something out of The Matrix.

"Good." A voice came from seemingly all directions at once. "You have awakened."

"Oh well done Sherlock," I retorted sarcastically.

"It also seems that you retain your personality, Natalie Grant," the Voice continued dryly. "I was unsure if you would, as some people have odd reactions to the shift between worlds." It took a few seconds for what the Voice had said to connect with my brain.

"WHAT?" I screamed. "YOU ARE INSANE! WHAT OTHER WORLD? I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH BY KIDNAPPING ME BUT IT WON'T HAP-"

"I don't really know either to be completely honest," the Voice interrupted. "I just know I have to bring a being of Light to the world of Middle Earth to save it from a disaster greater than any in your world at this time. You have a task to do in Middle Earth, however I do not know the specifics," continued the Voice. "That you will have to figure out on your own. However, I cannot place you there in your own form as it is too dangerous for your health. You may be slightly surprised at what you are when you get there, as I cannot control what shape you take beyond that it is four-legged."

"Four-legged? Not only do you take me from my world without permission - if this whole other world thing is real - but I can't even be HUMAN in this other world?" I glared at all parts of the 'light' since I couldn't see the speaker.

"Unless you'd rather be split into many pieces scattered across many worlds, then yes, I'm afraid it's true." The Voice did sound slightly sympathetic.

"Can't I just go back to my world?" I asked. "Why does it have to be me?"

"You can't go back to your world," the Voice informed me, slightly softer than usual. "You have no body back there. It was part of the magic I used to bring you here. I had to take someone who didn't want to or couldn't return. You were the first Light being I felt that filled those qualifications. If it helps, you died a hero. Or rather, heroine."

"I'M DEAD?" I couldn't take this in properly. Not only was I suddenly thrust into this weird 'between worlds' thingy me jiggy but I had DIED? This is just too unreal.

"Well, yes," the Voice admitted. "However the dying part wasn't my fault. I just diverted your soul on it's way to the underworld."

"At least tell me how I died?" I asked, still trying to grasp the concept that I was DEAD.

"Will you agree to take part in this world's fight for freedom then?"

Thinking about this, I decided I had no other choice. I mean, I was dead in my world anyway. "Alright. I'll do it. Not like there are many other options right?"

"You could continue on the the underworld if you wished. I could try to find someone else," the Voice offered.

Much as I considered the offer, I decided I didn't want to die yet. If I could do my living as an animal in another world then I was up for it. The fact that the Voice kept hammering home that there were other worlds is starting to make me think that it was telling the truth. "I'll do it," I told the Voice. "So how did I die?" I held my breath waiting for the answer.

"Your younger brother had run into the middle of the street," the Voice said slowly. "He didn't notice the truck headed towards him. You and about 5 other people did. You were the one who reached him in time to push him out of the way." The Voice stopped.

"And I didn't?" I whispered. "Get out of the way?"

"No."

That was all. I had been killed by a truck. Then I thought that my brother may even now been dead. Thank you, whoever is out there, I told the ceiling. Thank you for not taking him too. I stood there silently, eyes closed, remembering my brother, and grateful that he was still alive, even if I wasn't.

Eventually, I opened my eyes purposefully.

"So," I said. "When do I leave?"

The only answering I got was the lessening of the white place into complete blackness.

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End prologue

Thank you people for reading this far. Will be more updates soon.


	2. Chapter Two

Disclaimer: see prologue

'thoughts' to someone else

thoughts to myself

"speech" out loud

Chapter One: A New Friend

Thud! I smacked the ground as though I'd just fallen from the top branches of a tree.

'Gosh, thanks,' I thought, hope the Voice could hear me. Then I realised I was lying in a grass clearing in a forest. And that I had no idea where 'here' was. And that what I 'thought' to the Voice I had actually meant to say. Which meant - what? That I couldn't talk? No, I answered myself. The Voice had said that I would be some sort of four-legged animal. Chances are I couldn't talk because whatever animal I am can't either.

Glancing down at myself as I lay there I saw furry black paws where my hands were. Okay, so what does that make me? Dragging myself to my feet after a few trys, I stood precariously, trying to get the feel of standing on four feet. Man, does this feel weird, I thought. Spotting a pool of still water on the other side of the clearing, I stumbled awkwardly towards it. Oh dear, this is gonna take a bit to get used to, I thought to myself. I stopped next to the pool, barely preventing myself from falling in on my new legs. Lying myself down next to it - or rather, flopping to the ground coz I was still unbalanced - I peered over the edge to see my reflection.

Whoa, I thought to myself. Of all things I could be in another world I never would have thought of a german shepard. How odd. It was almost like looking a the neighbour's dog that lived down the street at home.

Home. Somewhere I couldn't go ever again. It finally and completely hit me that I was dead to my family. With some dog instinct I didn't know I had, I raised my nose to the sky and howled my agony. Completely lost in my anguish I didn't notice the shift in time. After what seemed like hours, I finally felt slightly better, and decided I'd better deal with the fact that I was in unknown territory and did not know how to get food, or defend myself or anything else.

Well, I thought. I'll explore the surrounding area first then think on where to go from there.

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The next day food was first on my agenda. To teach myself to hunt. Especially since yesterday's explorations had shown that I surrounded in all directions by forest. I had noticed that many creatures lived in this neck of the woods. Must be due to the pool of water and the stream leading to it, I thought. Even animals need to drink.

My first attempt at catching prey (rabbit) went wrong, and the next. And the next. I realised that I was always giving myself away. Instead of teaching myself to hunt, the first thing is to learn stealth.

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The days seem to fly by. I got better at keeping quiet and I had managed to catch some food. It tasted much better than the berries I had been eating before that. As time passed I learned much in the way of hunting and self defence. Every once in a while I would remember my home in the other world, but as the weeks went on I realised I couldn't hang on to it forever.

Today, as I lay there gnawing on the bone I had just cleared of meat, the Voice returned.

'Are you planning on moving on anytime soon?' it asked.

Raising my head from my meal I sent back, 'Moving where?'

'You do remember that I brought you to this world for a reason right?' the Voice said. 'How to you plan on helping this world when you haven't ran into any others?'

'Humans you mean?' I thought back.

'Not necessarily,' the Voice said. 'There are other beings on this world as well. Dwarves, Elves...'

'Ummm...' I said, not knowing how to take this new information.

'The point is,' the Voice interrupted me. 'You can't just stay here any longer. You have taken the time to learn what you need to survive. Now you have to move on. Also, the first person you run into you need to stick with.'

'Why?' I asked.

'I'm not sure, however apparently it's important for you to stick with them for some reason or other. I'm sure you'll find out at the right time.' A long pause. 'Feel free to move now...' the Voice hinted.

Looking around the clearing I asked, 'Which direction?'

'Pick one,' the Voice suggested.

'You don't know either,' I sighed.

'I've mentioned before that I don't know specifics, just overall things which I also can't tell you much of.'

'Oh brilliant,' I thought sarcastically. 'I have to help with something but no one knows what, I have to meet someone and don't know who or why, I have to go somewhere but no one knows where. This'll be fun! NOT!'

'The sooner you pick a direction and leave, the faster you'll find out some of those answers,' the Voice pointed out.

I bent my head and finished my meal. The Voice sighing impatiently.

When I had eaten all I could I got to my feet. Deciding to go the direction I was facing I headed into the forest.

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Two days later I was still going in the same direction. During the morning of the second day a clash of metal caught the attention of my ears. Following the sound I drew close to a clearing slightly east of the way I was heading originally. Staying behind some bushes at the edge of the clearing I could see what was going on. Apparently I had found the human I was looking for. Of course, unless I did something then I was unlikely to be able to meet him. A group of ugly creatures had decided the human looked like a tasty breakfast. The man was giving a good account of himself, swinging his sword this way and that keeping the creatures at bay. He would possibly be able to deal with them on his own, however I could see he was getting exhausted. I wondered how long he had been fighting them. Glancing around the clearing I note many other dead creatures. Ok, I decided. So he's been here a while. No wonder he's exhausted. Well, unless I he suddenly gets some help within the next minute or so, then I won't be meeting him, I'll be talking to his corpse.

With that thought in mind, I hurled myself from behind the bushes and used my new self-learned skills to help the human. That's weird, I thought. I'm already thinking of myself as a dog. That was the last thought I had time for as I reached the first creature. Lashing out with my teeth I tore out the creature's throat before any of them knew I was there. Leaping towards the next one my teeth snapped on air. Apparently tearing out their comrades throat ruined the surprise tactic somewhat. About half turned towards me, allowing the man to put more effort into killing the ones left.

I must say they weren't terribly great fighters, not bad either of course or the human probably would've killed them already; however they did have numbers of their side. The fact that I was trying to fight five at once hindered me a slight tad. As I struck out at the one nearest, a stick of wood flew over my shoulder into the one attempting to rip into my other side. Arrow, I noticed absently. Interesting, this place must be slightly less developed than my world. As the arrows brought down most of what was left of the creatures, I tried to catch my breath. A flicker of sunlight on steel caught my eye. Turning towards it, I noticed one of the last creatures trying to sneak up on the man, who hadn't yet noticed it.

SHIT! I thought. Opening my mouth I let loose a warning bark. The man turned towards me. Damnit! I cursed. I raced towards him trying to reach him before steel struck. Seeing me running all out across the clearing in his direction must have scared him somewhat, as he raised his sword in my way. Pain suddenly struck my shoulder and I stumbled. Making a quick glance downwards, I saw an arrow sticking out of my flesh. Whimpering slightly, I ran on painfully, still trying to beat the creature behind the human. Finally running up next to the human I dodged the sword and placed myself before the piece of steel aimed at his back. Half-growling, half-whimpering, I meet the creatures stare. Stepping forward, the creature raised his sword. Only to stop suddenly, an arrow sticking out of his chest.

As he fell to the ground in front of me, I turned around. The man behind me lowered his sword, finally realising I wasn't about to kill him. Two forms dropped out of the trees behind him.

"Estel," one of the new-comers greeted. "We've been looking for you for three days. Ada sent us out to wait for you. Lucky we came along when we did, don't you think?" He grinned.

"Orcs don't usually travel in packs this size," the other said. Whoa, he looks exactly like the other one. Either they are clones or twins. "It's strange. They seem to be getting more organised in their attacks recently."

As the conversation went on, I tuned out. The pain in my shoulder from the arrow was getting to me. Twisted my neck around I tried to grasp the arrow between my teeth. I whimpered in pain.

"Hello there," the man, Estel, knelt down next to me. "I bet that hurts doesn't it," he asked rhetorically. "Sorry about that. Elrohir thought you were going for me. You were saving me weren't you?"

'Um, duh!' I thought sarcastically.

Both Estel and the two clones listened for a second then shook their heads. "Probably imagining things," Estel muttered, then continued, "Thank you for saving my life."

'Your welcome,' I replied.

Visibly startled, the man looked at me in shock. The twins stared at me over his shoulder. "Was that you?"

'Um, yes, apparently,' I sent to them all, just as shocked as they were.

'Excuse me, Mr Voice?' I thought. 'You never mentioned I could think to other people.'

'We'll you can,' the Voice replied.

'Thanks, you're ever so helpful,' I sent back sarcastically. A laugh sounded through my head. I ignored it.

"How can you talk?" Estel asked. "You're a ... actually, I don't know what you are. Some form of beast? I've never seen anything like you before."

Hmmm. To tell or not to tell? That is the question.

'You can tell the human,' the Voice interrupted my thoughts. 'He is the one you need to be connected to. Tell him if you like, but only him.'

'I can speak to whomever I want and block out the others?' I asked.

'Certainly,' the Voice replied. 'Just think directly to who you want to talk to and imagine a tunnel going only to them.'

'Oh thanks,' I said. Bringing my mind back to the conversation with Estel I decided to tell him. If I'm going to be hanging around him alot then he'll probably figure it out sooner or later anyway. Of course, I have to figure out how to convince him to keep me first.

'Of course you haven't,' I sent to him direct. 'I'm not from around here. Don't tell the others but I'm not even from this world. I'm from somewhere far away from... where the hell are we anyway?'

"In the forest around Rivendell, on Middle Earth," Estel replied bemusedly.

'Um, cool, thanks,' I said. 'So anyway,' I brought the twins back into the conversation. 'I'm a german shepard. A breed of dog. I am no beast. Back to the matter at hand though, I don't suppose you could help me get this thing out of my shoulder? It hurts like blazes and it's partly your fault it's in their anyway.'

"Sorry about that," one of the twins said to me. I took him to be Elrohir since Estel said Elrohir was the one who hit me, and now this one was apologizing.

"Lie still," Estel said. "By the way, what's your name? I'm Strider."

'I thought you were Estel,' I said.

"I have many names," Strider replied.

'My name is Natalie Grant. Call me Nat,' I told him. Then added to him and the twins, 'Don't tell anyone I can speak or anything alright? I wasn't even supposed to tell you two.' I jerked my head towards the twins. Each of them nodded.

"Ok Nat," Strider said. "This might hurt a bit." Grabbing the arrow he yanked.

Pain flashed through me like lightning and blackness overcame me.

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I realise these are short chapters however I will hopefully be updating more often than my other stories.

Please review and tell me if it's any good.

By the way, MERRY CHRISTMAS Y'ALL!


	3. Chapter Three

Disclaimer: LOTR is not mine and will never be. NATALIE GRANT however, is mine.

Howdy all! New Chappie is here. Am back from Christmas vacation so am back with my computer! Yay! By the way, to let you know, I'll be following the movie more than the book. Although I am enjoying reading the book YET AGAIN at the moment. Brilliant book. I'm just at the bit where they journey through Moria. Anyway, reviews are appreciated. Once again, if you don't like girl joins fellowship stories then don't read it. Otherwise, GO FOR IT! Happy reading!

Chapter Two

The smell of fire awoke me. Well, that and the fact that my shoulder was painful. It also felt slightly weird. Opening my eyes and craning my neck, I tried to see why my shoulder felt bulky.

"Stay still, or you'll mess up my work," the man (Strider, I remembered), strode over from where he was skinning a rabbit.

'Thanks,' I thought to him. 'For helping me, I mean.'

"That is strange," he said, shaking his head. "You talking in my head."

'Yeah, well, you should try it from my end,' I sent. 'I use to be a two-legged human.'

"Um, say again?" Strider stared.

'Did I not mention that?' I thought, with a doggie grin on my face. 'You might want to shut your mouth before you catch flies.'

Strider's jaw snapped shut with an audible click.

"You're a human?" he asked, after a few attempts to imitate a goldfish.

'Was,' I sent. 'Not now. Obviously. I mean, the four legs and bark and stuff sort of give it way.'

"Ok," Strider said finally. Rolling my eyes I tried to climb to my feet. Try being the word. As soon as I put weight on my injured leg pain shot from my shoulder. I fell to the ground.

"You'll need to stay off that leg for a while," Strider said. "It won't hold you at the moment."

'Gee, thank you,' I thought sarcastically. 'I would never have figured that out on my own.'

Strider grinned at me, then wandered back over to his rabbit to keep skinning it. Which is when I noticed the absence of the twins.

'Hey,' I sent to Strider. 'Where'd the clones go?'

"Pardon?" He looked at me with a puzzled expression on his face. "Clones?"

'Oh, right,' I thought aloud. 'You don't know about genetic engineering.'

"Genetic Engineering?" Strider looked even more blank.

'Never mind,' I sighed. 'The point was, where are the other two ... people ... things?'

"The elves?" Strider asked. Oh yeah, I thought to myself. Mr Voice mentioned elves. And dwarves and stuff.

"They left to let our father know that I'm running late because I had to take care of you," Strider broke into my thoughts.

'Why did you?' I asked.

"Why did I what?" Strider said, bringing over the now-skinned rabbit.

'Take care of me,' I replied. 'You could have just left me there.'

"You saved my life," Strider stated. "I owed you a life-debt."

'Um what?' I asked blankly.

"I was getting wearied fighting all those Orcs at once," Strider explained. "You took some of them off me, then you came and stood between me and the Orc coming up behind me."

'Oh,' I thought. 'You don't owe me anything. I wanted to help you.'

"Why?" It was Strider's turn to look blank. Again.

'Well,' I started. 'This'll sound completely dumb but ... I was lonely.'

"Lonely?"

'Yeah,' I confirmed. 'I want to hang around with someone for a while. You looked a likely person. Of course it was going to be hard to hang with you if you were dead so I just helped out a bit. Now you've just healed me so there's nothing to owe. Can I stay with you anyway?'

Strider looked around the clearing for a moment. "You can stay with me a while if you like. I'm travelling to Rivendell to see my father. However we'll have to stay here for a day or so, then you're shoulder can heal more."

'Sure thing doc,' I said, and lay down for a long wait. I never did have much patience.

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Two days later my shoulder was well enough for me to walk on. Strider packed up the camp while I watched. It's hard to help pack when you don't have hands. Eventually we were ready to go.

"You alright?" Strider asked, walking over to me. "We don't have that much farther to go till we reach Rivendell but just say if you need a rest."

'I'm good,' I said as I got up. 'Let's go.'

We walked for ages. Or rather, it felt like ages since as we went on my shoulder got sorer, and I was determined to make it to Rivendell without asking for a break. I had already made him take a few days to take care of me; I wasn't going to make him waste more time because of me. Of course, he noticed anyway. The limping on my bad leg and my heavy breathing as I tried not to whimper may have had something to do with it.

"Take a break," Strider said. "Let me have another look at your shoulder." I flopped down as he strode over to have a look under my bandage.

"I think it's just the strain of walking on it," Strider spoke. "Not too far to go, then I'll get my father to look at it."

'Okay,' I thought back. I clambered to my feet. 'Shall we go then? The sooner we get where we're going, the sooner I can rest.'

"Good point," Strider said. "This time say if you need to stop." He looked at me sternly.

'Deal,' I sent, as I meekly lowered my head.

Setting off once again, I soon found that Strider hadn't lied: it wasn't far. It was also the most amazing sight I'd seen.

'Whoa!' My thoughts transfered to Strider.

"Welcome, Nat," he said. "To Rivendell."

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Another short chapter I know. Am in the process of doing the next one though so they should keep coming. Some reviews would be nice although I'll keep writing anyway. Hope you lot all had good Christmas!

Luv TheWall


	4. Chapter Four

DISCLAIMER: LOTR not mine, now or ever!

Yay! I got my first review! Thank you! Here's the next chapter by the way. I'm quite proud of myself. I'm actually updating way more often than I do on my other stories. Hopefully my muse continues. Anyway, on with the chapter!

"Speech"

'thought'

thought to myself

(signing between the twins)

Chapter Three

My first days in Rivendell were rather dull. All I got to do once we were there was lie on a rug in Strider's room and rest my leg. Which was fine for the first two days since my leg was killing me but now that it was nearly healed I was bored stiff.

"I'll be gone for a while," Strider told me as he stood up. "Stay in here and your shoulder will probably be alright to start walking tomorrow. It's mostly healed now." He pulled the door closed behind him.

Stay put! I thought to myself. I've been out of action for a few days and can now walk and he expects me to lie still! Fat chance. I waited till his footsteps could no longer be heard then wandered to the door. Lifting onto my hind legs I pushed at the door handle and let open the door. I peered around the corner and saw no one. Good. Now I could explore. I took a few steps down the hallway and ran into the two clones.

'Damn,' I thought aloud.

"Aren't you supposed to be in there?" Elrohir said, pointing at the room I had just left. I knew it was Elrohir; he smelt different from his twin.

'Umm,' I thought. 'Look, I was really bored and wanted to explore alright? I'll go back when I feel tired or sore. Promise.' I gave him the puppy dog eyes, which apparently work on elves too.

"Ok," Elladan gave in.

"But we're coming with you," Elrohir added.

'Alright,' I sighed. 'You don't have to say anything out loud to me you know. I can hear if you think it to me. Imagine a tunnel to me and send your thought through it.'

"Ok," Elrohir said. 'That does mean only one of us can talk to you at a time since we can't hear what the other is thinking.'

'Good point,' I thought back to both of them.

"What is?" Elladan asked, proving the point sufficiently. He hadn't heard what Elrohir had thought at me. I repeated what had been said.

'Just make sure no one knows that I can communicate alright?' I said. 'This is important.'

"Alright," they agreed. "We can just sign at the same time we think at you," Elladan suggested to his brother. "No one understands our coding so no one would know what we're talking about and we'll think what we're saying at you so all of us know."

'Ok,' I agreed. 'Can I go explore now? PLEASE?'

Laughing they both signed and thought: (Ok.) And so began my tour of Rivendell. Which was kept quiet of course, since I wasn't really allowed out of Strider's room. Although now that I think about, they wouldn't blame me anyway since none of them know I can communicate. They just think I'm an intelligent beast. Except Strider and the twins of course. Strider might give me grief.

The twins showed me all around the place: gardens, kitchen, sleeping quarters, the great hall where everyone eats... the list goes on. The tour ended and the twins took me back to Strider's room where, thankfully, Strider hadn't returned yet.

(You ever want intelligent company, find us) Elrohir signed. AN: they sign and think at the same time remember

(Find YOU if she wants INTELLIGENT company?) Elladan asked innocently, earning himself a whack on the head from his brother. Laughing at their antics, I watched them take their leave. I was hungry. As soon as the twins went around the corner, I went in the opposite direction, heading for the kitchen. They were easy to find: dinner was in process and the smell was appetizing.

I snuck into the kitchen through a side door the twins had shown me during the tour. 'Whoa!' was my first thought went I entered.

'See something you like?' the Voice was back.

'Food!' I returned, my mouth watering. The Voice laughed in the background of my mind.

Ignoring the Voice, I made my way slowing around the kitchen, keeping to the shadows where I could. Something caught my eye. A trail of sausages hung slightly over the side of one the tables. Keeping an eye on the elves in the kitchen I crept forward. Just as I snagged the sausages something whacked at me.

Whoops! I'd kept an eye on those already in the kitchen but I'd forgot to watch those entering! Keeping my teeth hooked in the sausages - hey I was hungry - I ran for the first door I saw. Running through it just in time to avoid another smack I kept on going. I raced through the halls with what I felt was the devil himself on my heels, I realised I'd ran in a complete circle when I saw another elf waiting at the door I'd came through. Shit! Throwing myself to the right I hit a set of double doors I vaguely recognised from the tour. As soon as I entered I realised why. There were people everywhere eating their lunch. Or they were before I burst through the doors anyway. All this passed through my mind in a flash, then I ran straight towards Strider who was sitting at the main table.

'HELP!' I yelled at him in thought. Strider clutched his head. 'Sorry! I didn't mean to be so loud!'

"Nat!" Strider said sternly. "What are you doing here? I told you to stay in my rooms."

'I was hungry!' I replied. 'Just think it through a tunnel at me by the way. I'll hear. Can we argue this later? I'm about to be eaten by elf-zilla!' At this last I dove under Strider's chair, much to the amusement of the twins, who I just noticed were sitting to one side of him.

"This animal is yours?" the elf following me stopped next to Strider.

Strider stood up to deal with the furious elf who was waving some weird cooking instrument. Leaving Strider to it, I dug in to my sausage, staying safely under his chair.

'You like causing mischief?' I recognised the mind voice of Elrohir. Looking up from my food I noticed he was signing to his brother at the same time.

'Certainly,' I replied, sending direct to only the twins. 'My great mission in life: to cause as much chaos and confusion as possible. You got a problem with that?'

"Yes!" Elladan said aloud, earning a stern glance from his father for the volume.

'What's your problem?' I asked.

'Next time take us!' they both said in unison. Shaking my head, I went back to my sausage, determined to eat as much as I could before circumstance forced me to stop. As I ate the last morsel, something grabbed me around the scruff of my neck. Looking up, I realised it was Strider.

'Um, yeah?' I asked innocently.

'You and I have a lot of talking to do,' Strider thought back, as he excused himself and dragged me out of the hall. When we entered his rooms, he placed me back in front of the fire.

"I told you to stay put!" Strider started in on me.

'I was hungry and bored,' I complained. 'I'd been lying in here for two days with nothing to do. I can't help my talent for mischief.'

"Hmmm," Strider kept his eyes trained on me.

'Although, I didn't actually mean to cause mischief this time!' I added. 'I was just hungry.'

"You could have asked," Strider said.

'Never thought of it,' I answered. 'I don't know how far my thought reach is, and it's just new so I never thought about it since you weren't within eye-sight.'

"I will be going away again in a week," Strider enlightened me. "You will have to get along with people if you stay here. Causing mischief isn't going to help."

'That's alright,' I said. 'I'll be healed by then, so I can just come with you!'

"No!" Strider rejected the idea. "I can't be looking out for you."

'Look you!' I stared him down. 'I was living in that forest alone for quite a while before I met you and I was doing fine. I need looking after just as much as you do.'

Strider picked up a cloak and threw it around his shoulders. "No!" He shut the door behind him.

Sighing I lay back down before the fireplace.

'Don't worry!' the Voice interrupted any thought processes I may have began. 'He'll be fine in about an hour or two.'

'So I do get to go?' I said hopefully. 'Coz I was thinking I'd screwed up and would be left behind, which would have mucked up the reason for me being here.'

'It's fine,' the Voice said. 'I also don't think anything will be happening for a few years yet. You need to be close to him though when the time comes. Why not start now?'

'Why not indeed?' I put my head on my paws.

Two hours later Strider entered.

"Fine," he said shortly. "You can come."

I sighed in relief and closed my eyes to sleep. It had been a busy day.

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End of chapter! Yay! Another update! Reviews are nice, but of course, I'll update without them.

Hope the story is doing alright! Comments are helpful. Not flames though.

Happy New Year!

Luv TheWall


	5. Chapter Five

DISCLAIMER: LOTR not mine. Never will be. Nat is though.

Happy reading with this next chapter. Reviews are nice things.

Thank you to the people who reviewed. I love you! Thank you: Hope of Freedom, KickUpSomeDust, and Duvet. I'll try and make it slightly different from the usual girl in the fellowship stories but I don't know how it's gonna turn out yet. Stay with me and we'll find out. :) Here's another chapter for you:

"Speech"

'Mind-speech'

(twin signs)

Chapter Four

'So where are we going?' I asked Strider a week later as we headed out of Rivendell. I could almost hear the sighs of relief as I left. I girnned mentally. The twins were certainly brilliant at causing havoc. I'm glad they're on my side really. If any pranks happened in Rivendell in the past week, chances are we were behind it. The elves thought so too. Except they just blamed the twins for not controlling me. It was rather amusing really. I could pull all the pranks I wanted and no one knew it was me. Of course, it was sort of depressing not being able to take the credit. Ah well ... Life is like that sometimes.

'I had a call from a fellow ranger,' Strider answered my previous question. Over the past week we'd been testing our telepathic range. So far I haven't found my limit. Strider's become quite comfortable mind-speaking though. 'We will be meeting up with him soon.'

'Um, ok,' I replied, none the wiser. Strider just grinned at me and kept walking. Even as a dog I still found walking rather boring so after a while I decided to sing. In my head of course.

So here we stand

In our secret place

Where the sound of the crowd

Is so far away

You take my hand

And it feels like home

We both understand

It's where we belong

So how do I say?

Do I say good bye?

We both have our dreams

We both wanna fly

So let's take tonight

To carry us through

The lonely times

CHORUS:

I'll always look back

As I walk away

This memory will last

For eternity

And all of our tears

Will be lost in the rain

When I find my way back

To your arms again

But until that day

You know you are

The Queen of my heart

END CHORUS

So let's take tonight

And never let go

While dancing we'll kiss

Like there's no tomorrow

As the stars sparkle down

Like a diamond ring

I'll treasure this moment

Till we meet again

But no matter how far

Away you may be

I just close my eyes

And you're in my dreams

And there you will be

Until we meet

CHORUS

'You have a nice singing voice,' Strider thought at me when I finished.

'Thanks,' I said surprised. Must be a new thing, I thought to myself. I never could sing in tune back on earth. 'You don't mind if I keep singing do you? It makes the time go faster.'

'Sure, go ahead,' Strider sent.

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'That was nice,' Strider complimented, interrupting my singing. 'You'll have to be quieter now though. We'll meet Haller soon.'

'Haller is the person who called?' I asked.

'Yeah, he trained with me when I became a Ranger,' Strider replied.

I heard a faint footfall in the bushes to the right. Turning in that direction I searched the shadows, finally finding a shape mostly hidden from sight.

'Strider?' I said. 'You might want to check out the bushes at your right.' Strider nodded in reply then slowly edged closer to the bushes. As the shadow concentrated on Strider I steathily crept behind him. Just as the shadow tensed and was about to pounce I growled.

"Aaaaaii!" The figure lept forward towards Strider, but now without any hidden intentions. He landed facing me with a sword and dagger in his hand.

Strider started laughing his head off.

'What's so funny?' I said to Strider, continuing to growl and pace steadily towards the other.

"What's so hilarious?" said the new-comer, unintentionally echoing my question.

"You two!" Strider said, answering both of us at once. "Nat," he said to me. "Meet Haller."

"You know this beast?" Haller asked incredulously.

'Oi!' I exclaimed indignantly. 'I ain't a beast! I'm a german shepard. And a very intelligent one at that.'

"What?" Haller said, looking around.

'Whoops,' I thought to Strider. 'Didn't mean him to hear that. Shit!'

'Now you've done it,' Strider replied, before continuing aloud, "Haller, this animal has been with me for a couple of weeks now. She isn't going to kill you."

"Did that thing just speak to me?" Haller asked, looking dazed.

'Um...' I stuttered. 'Mr Voice?'

'You've done it now,' the Voice replied. 'No one else was suppose to know yet. Already the twins know. However, there isn't much we can do about it now.' The Voice sighed. 'Tell the ranger, but for goodness sake, just TRY and keep your mouth shut to others.'

'I solemnly swear to TRY and hold my mouth shut,' I sent a mental image of a solemn face and hand placed over my heart to the Voice.

'Enough,' the Voice said laughing. 'Tell him. Not about me of course. Just that you can communicate and hold intelligent conversation. Or maybe just that you can hold A conversation,' the Voice added.

'Hey!' I said, mentally poking out my tongue. Shaking my head I turned back to Haller and explained that it was me he heard and that I wasn't planning on killing him any time soon.

'If only because Strider here would kill ME if I did,' I tacked on at the end with a mock glare.

'Umm...' Haller said, unsure if I was joking.

"Enough Nat," Strider intervened. "Quit teasing the poor fellow."

'Aww, ruin my fun,' I sent a pout with that thought.

Laughing Strider just shook his head. "Right you two, shut up for a minute. Haller, what's up that you needed my help for?" Brought back to the reason he was here in the first place, Haller sat on a log at the edge of the path we were on.

"Tangent and Pender were captured by orcs last week," Haller stated bluntly, not beating around the bush at all. "I need your help to get them out of the caves where the orcs have holed up."

"Damn orcs," Strider muttered. "The twins of Rivendell said the orcs seem to be getting more organised. Looks like they're right."

"Yeah," Haller agreed. "Something's up. In the meantime, we need to get our fellow rangers out before they become food."

'Okay,' I said. 'I'm in.'

"Natalie," Strider said. "I don't want you going anywhere near this place."

'Too bad,' I argued. 'You don't control me, therefore you can't stop me.' I glared at him. 'I'm going.'

Strider sighed. "You can come with us. When we get to the caves, we'll rethink the situation."

'Yay!' I said, prancing around on my four legs.

"Are you sure she's intelligent?" Haller muttered to Strider, a grin crossing his face.

"Sometimes I wish she weren't," Strider sighed as they started walking.

'Hey!' I followed them out of the clearing. 'I heard that.' The two men just laughed.


	6. Chapter Six

DISCLAIMER: We've been through this before, see other chapters.

Sorry about the mix up peoples. I thought I'd updated this one a week or so ago. Apparently not so I'm doing it now. Which is why the chapter order just switched sheepish grin. Happy reading anyway. Here's the next chapter and thanks to anyone who reviews. I love you.

"Speech"

'Mind speak'

Chapter Five

'How many guards?' I mindspoke the two men. We lay on our bellies on the opposite hill from the cave. We had travelled for days on end before we reached where we were now. I had come to the conclusion that Strider had started to like my sort of humour. I mean, why else would he refuse to let me help him fight unless he was afraid of me dying. We'd had arguments about me helping the whole way here, until even Haller told Strider to just let me, just to shut me up. But enough of that. Now we had to get the two men out. Which brings me back to my original question. I could see two outside the cave and one furthur up the hillside.

"Three that I can see," Haller whispered. "There are probably more inside though."

'That's what I get too,' I confirmed. 'So what's the plan?' Silence followed my question as each of us thought. Finally Strider's voice broke the quiet.

"One of us creates a diversion while the other goes in and releases our friends," Strider said. He wasn't speaking to me, so I knew he was still stuck on his decision that I stay uninvolved.

'I'll be the diversion,' I said before anyone said anything. 'No, listen Strider. You don't know what's inside there. You may need both of you in there. I'm extra and I can fight. I'm going to be the diversion.'

"But Nat-"

I cut him off. 'I'm a fighter too. You aren't leaving me out of this. I know you love me but you need my help. However I can't go in since your friends won't recognise me. You need to think of your friends in there. Go get them.' With that I stepped silently into the bushes.

"Okay," Haller said laughing. "Apparently you don't have a choice. Besides, she's right. We need to be thinking of what else is in there. Let's get our friends. As soon as she leads them off, we'll go." They both checked their weapons then melted into the bushes.

I crept on stealthy paws up the other hillside. As I got closer I heard the two guards arguing. Geez, did no one think to tell them to shut up? I could hear them with no trouble.

"I'm hungry," one complained. "Why don't we eat some of the two inside. They have to be alive but no one said unharmed."

"Be my guest," the second replied. "But I'm not standing up to the boss for you when he finds out."

The third glared down. "Will both of you shut up?" he hissed. "You're on guard duty! Act like it!"

Looks like that one had more sense. If I distract the two below then maybe he'll come to see what's happening. Worth a try. I only had one shot at this. I wandered into the clearing and waited until the two hungry orcs had seen me.

"Look food," one pointed me out to the other. I shook my head. And people call ME stupid? They tried to crept over to where I was, certain I hadn't noticed them yet.

"What on earth are you two doing now?" The third one had noticed them moving away from their posts. Following their gaze to me he growled. "Do you two always think with your stomachs? You're guarding, not hunting! Get back to your posts!" As he got ignored, he leaped down to grab the two. That's when I ran into the underbrush. The two orc guards grunted and came along too, unrealising they were being followed by the third. Good.

'Strider? You can go in now,' I sent. My plan was working so far. Now I had to run.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

I led them on a merry chase through the woods. I almost lost one into a river but it caught onto what I was doing at the last second. Drat. I was noticed I was leading them around in a circle. Whoops. I didn't really want to lead them back to the cave. Unfortunately, I hadn't realised how much energy they had. I was getting tired and they were still running steadily, and catching up. I was in a bit of shit now. What the hell was I going to do? I noticed a track to the right and took it. It ran steadily for a while before running right into a cliff. Near the cave too, because when I turned around I recognised the hillside we were on earlier. The orcs followed me in before I could escape. Crap. Life sucks sometimes you know? I growled.

The two orcs cut off my way out. The third had apparently joined the chase in the hopes that once I was killed the other two would go back to their posts.

'Um, Strider?' I called out in my mind. 'Have you got your friends yet?'

'Yes,' I heard in reply. 'They appear to be fine. Nat, where are you?'

I glanced at the sun. 'Slightly west of the cave entrance and in a spot of bother. Don't suppose you want to help?'

'On our way,' came through the link. 'Hold on Nat!'

'To what?' I thought back as the orcs closed in. 'My only options are the three orcs that are about to behead me. I mean, I'm not hanging on to them: they smell!'

'Trust Nat to be humourous when her head is about to depart. Idiot. If she dies I'll ...' Hmmm ... I'm not sure if I was suppose to hear that. I lept onto the closer orc and dug my teeth into it's throat. As I let go, it fell to the ground. One down, two to go.

I growled and went for another one, dodging it's dagger. As my teeth ripped out it's throat I felt a hand grab the back of my neck. Uh-oh. Not good.

'STRIDER!' I sent desperately. Struggling didn't help at all. The hand just closed tighter. I closed my eyes as the sword came down. A low grunt sounded in front of me. I opened my eyes just as the weight of orc fell on top of me. 'Oh crap,' was all I had time for, before the orc hit me and pushed me to the ground under it's dead weight. Shit this thing was heavy. I tried to wriggle out from under it, as I was having trouble breathing with the weight.

'Um, guys?' I sent out. 'You here yet.'

'Duh,' Strider replied. 'Where else did the arrow that killed the thing come from?' I grinned mentally. Strider was picking up my sense of humour. Yay! I have a convert. Back to the problem of breathing though ...

'Little help here before I suffocate?' I asked.

'Hang on,' Strider replied. 'Just climbing down the cliff you ran into.' The weight was suddenly lifted off me. I gasped for breath for a bit before my breathing steadied. Looking up I realised their were two new-comers watching me. One had brown hair, the other a shade so dark it was almost black.

'Hello,' I doggy-grinned. 'How are you? Please to meet you. So which one of you is Tangent and which is Pender?' I heard a groan in the back of my head.

'What happened to the solemn vow to shut up?' the Voice asked in exasperation.

'Uhhh ... whoops?' I replied sheepishly.

I saw a mental image of a shaking head. 'Just tell them you can talk and get it over with. But NO ONE ELSE YOU HEAR ME?' I winced at the tone and agreed immediately.

"Did that animal just talk?"

"That animal just spoke!"

'Are you twins?' I asked. The only other people I'd met who traded off sentences were Elrohir and Elladan. And come to mention it, that line sounded like one from a movie back home called George of the Jungle. I shook my head. Weird.

"Um no?" one of them replied.

"Are you speaking to us?" the other asked.

'Duh,' I said. 'Who else would it be? So which of you is which?'

"I'm Tangent," said the dark haired one, overcoming his shock.

"And I'm Pender," continued the ranger with brown hair. "And you are?"

'Oh of course,' I said. 'Sorry, I'm all flustered with the orc falling on me. I'm Natalie Grant. Call me Nat though.'

"Please to meet you Nat," the said in unison.

'Do you guys practice that or something?' I asked. The two humans just laughed. As two other voices joined the laughter I remembered Strider and Haller were there too. 'Thanks for helping out there guys,' I said. 'I thought I was a goner.'

"A goner?" Haller looked confused.

'Kicked the bucket? Offed? Pushing up the daises?' I added a few more, just to get more blank faces. 'Dead?'

"Oh," Strider said. "Why didn't you just say dead in the first place? Much easier to follow. And don't worry about the help. If you hadn't drew them off we wouldn't have been able to help Tangent and Pender. You were right, we did need us both in there."

'Does this mean I can stay with you?' I said excitedly.

Strider glared. "Don't push it or I'll just leave you in Mirkwood when we visit."

'Aw, you know you love me already,' I showed him my doggy eyes.

"You can stay for a while anyway," Strider muttered. "Until I chop off your head in exasperation anyway." He walked out of the clearing. The three rangers laughed and followed as I ran on ahead.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

I know this is a short chapter. My apologies but I haven't really been updating as much as I wanted to. Hope they were alright and that you are still reading :)

Thanks for anyone who reviews. And thanks for reading!

Luv TheWall


	7. Chapter seven

DISCLAIMER: lotr not mine

Thanks for any and all reviews. Here's another chapter:

"Speech"

'Mind speech'

(twin signing)

Chapter Six

Six years later, I lay under a table in the corner of The Prancing Pony in Bree. 'That will kill you one day,' I spoke to Strider, who was sitting above me at the table, smoking.

'Hasn't yet,' he retorted. 'And at least I'll have some pleasure before I die. Putting up with you for six years doesn't count as pleasure.'

'Awww, you know you love me,' I pleaded, keeping up the old argument. 'If you didn't, you wouldn't have kept me with you.'

'As if I had any choice in the matter. You would have stayed anyway,' Strider sent back. 'Every single one of my friends have tried to kill you at some point or other. And always when you first meet them.' Laughter coloured his tone. 'Yet it hasn't managed to drive you away yet.'

I couldn't help but agreeing with that one. I remember the first time I met Gandalf. It was about four years ago ...

"Natalie! Get out of there!"

I turned and looked over my shoulder to see Strider waving frantically from the back of his horse. The other rangers were pulling out. Giving a last bite towards the man I was facing I leaped over his head and ran towards Strider. Seeing I was coming Strider turned his horse and followed his friends.

Seeing that we were giving up, the men we were fighting grabs the reins of their horses and took up the chase. Damn, I thought to myself. There was no way I could outrun horses. I could damn well try though, I vowed, and ran faster. The rangers were pulling away from us. All except Strider. He was waiting for me, I realised.

'Damn you! Get going!' I yelled at him.

'No way in hell am I leaving you, you stubborn mutt!' Strider retorted. 'We have this argument every time. You should know by now that you won't win.' He sent a mental grin with that last.

'Stupid human,' I thought quietly, although deliberately making it loud enough for him to hear. He just laughed.

'You might want to hurry it up a bit,' he suggested.

'Can't,' I puffed back. Looking over my shoulder I saw the men were only a couple of metres behind me. 'Um shit!' I thought, and tried to push myself harder. Problem: I was already running all out.

'Keep it going Nat,' Strider urged. I looked up at him and saw him nocking an arrow to his bow. Before he could shoot however, a bright energy beam smack into the group behind me, coming from a staff an old man was holding. Since they were so close to me the beam also connected with me and threw me ten metres along the ground.

'Ouch!' I thought, rolling to a stop.

'Nat! Are you alright?' Strider's mental tone sounded worried.

'Sure,' I thought back. 'Only a few grazes.' Looking around I saw him talking to the old man who had sent the beam in the first place. 'How come all your friends try to kill me?'

Strider laughed. 'Gandalf wasn't aiming at you Nat. He was helping take down the Basala Riders. You just happened to be in the way. So for once it wasn't deliberate.'

'Yeah yeah, they're your friends,' I grumbled. Strider let out another chuckle and continued his conversation with Gandalf.

Despite that painful beginning, Gandalf and I get along now, although he doesn't know I can talk. He just thinks I'm a rather intelligent mutt. Which is true about the intelligent part of course.

We'd seen him again recently when he'd galloped through and handed Strider a message saying to meet someone here and take them to Rivendell since he didn't have time to do it himself.

So here we are, in Bree, waiting for someone unknown ... or rather, unknown to me, since I think Strider knows what he's doing. He only told me the bare essentials though: We're taking some hobbits to Rivendell for Gandalf and we have to keep them safe since they're carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.

'So what does a hobbit look like?' I asked Strider, as I lay there under the table.

'Short, hairy, looks like a child really,' Strider replied absently. I noticed his gaze had travelled from the door to the front desk. My eyes followed and I saw four children talking to Butterbur.

'THAT'S a hobbit?' I said incredulously. 'THEY are the ones who are carrying the fate of the world?'

Strider nodded.

'We're doomed,' I thought at him, hiding my face under my paws.

'Hush,' Strider commanded. 'Not everyone is as they seem. We'll find out if the hobbits are worthy soon enough.'

I went back to watching the hobbits. I snorted with laughter when I heard Butterbur say that Strider was one of them 'ranger folk' so the hobbits had better say away from him.

'He's warning them away from you coz you're DANGEROUS,' I sniggered at Strider. Strider just sighed and continued puffing on his pipe.

One of the hobbits went over to the bar. I couldn't hear what was said but one of the others suddenly dashed over and grabbed the other's shoulder. Strider suddenly stood up. I could see why.

One of the hobbits had fallen to the floor and completely disappeared.

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I know it's short. I also know I haven't updated in a while. Will update again soon hopefully.

Please review coz I love reviews!

Stay fuzzy,

TheWall


	8. Chapter Eight

DISCLAIMER: LOTR is not mine (obviously), Nat is mine though.

Hello all!

I dunno how original this story will turn out to be from now on since I'm at the part where the movie and book continue from. I'll see as I go. Thank you to all the WONDERFUL people who reviewed! I love getting feedback and tips so any suggestions welcome! For example the flashback tip. Will fix that at some point but in the meantime will keep it in mind for future chapters. Thank you for anyone who reviews even to just say YIPPEE or something. By the way, I mixed up the previous chapters a bit and changed the order slightly. Feel free to wander back and see if you've missed anything. I'm gonna stop rambling now and here's the next chapter!

'Mind speech'

"Speech"

thought to myself

(Twin hand signals)

Chapter Seven

I stayed under my table out of the way, as Strider grabbed the disappearing hobbit and dragged him upstairs. I watched amusedly as the three other hobbits glanced around in confusion before spotting Strider disappearing up the stairs at the far side of the common room. Without stopping for thought all three ran after him. What they thought they could do to Strider I had no idea.

'Incoming,' I sent to Strider, my tone coloured with laughter.

'You coming up Nat?' Strider asked.

'Nah,' I replied. 'I'm quite comfy here. Besides,' I added with a grin. 'I'd probably terrify the lot of them and you'd lose any trustworthiness that you may appear to have.' I laughed. Silence followed. Either Strider was ignoring me or he was distracted by four hobbits bent on taking him on. I continued to snigger at the last thought. Leaving an ear open, I dozed off.

--------------------

Strider's voice woke me up. 'Nat? Where the hell are you?'

'Huh?' I answered sleepily. A screech brought me to full wakefulness. 'WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?' My heart was pounding.

'That would be the Black Riders that have been following our four hobbit friends, in the hope of getting the Ring he's carrying,' Strider explained.

'Would this Ring be something to do with the Fate Of The World that Gandalf mentioned?' I sent sarcastically.

'Wow! You're bright! I can hardly bear to look at you tonight!' Strider could be just as sarcastic after hanging around with me for six years. 'We will be accompanying the hobbits to Rivendell since Gandalf is occupied.'

'Oh cool!' I exclaimed. 'I love Rivendell! They are so easy to continue with my reign of confusion and chaos! Oh, excuse me for a minute...' I tacked on the last as a thought occurred to me.

'Yo! Bob!' I called mentally to the Voice. I had started calling him that about 5 years ago. I got sick of calling him Mr Voice.

'Yeah, watcha want?' Bob griped at me. He'd been picking my speech patterns up too. I like to think he has a better personality now but I don't know if all parties involved agree with me.

'Is this Ring thing that Strider mentioned, is it what I'm supposed to help with?' I asked.

'Yeah,' Bob answered. 'But I still ain't sure about what exactly you're supposed to be doing. Just continue to stick with Strider at the moment and I'm sure you'll run into something eventually.'

'Ever so helpful,' I sighed.

'Thanks, I try,' Bob grinned at me.

'Arrgghh,' I tuned him out and thought about what he'd said. Apparently, Strider will be involved in whatever goes down. Well, I'll continue to be his second skin for a while then. With that thought covered, I lay myself down once more. Only to be interrupted by things in Black...

Oh my God!

'STRIDER!' I screamed mentally.

'Ouch!' Strider sent back. 'Quieter please?'

'Sorry! But those things are here!' I was quieter now but no calmer. Those things were going through the empty common room and up the stairs.

'Relax Nat,' Strider replied. 'We aren't in that room anymore. They won't get us. Just make sure you stay out of their way. I don't want to lose your annoying presense just yet.'

'Gee thanks,' I answered, as I cowered under the table in the corner.

'Just calm down,' Strider advised. 'Breathe deeply and quietly.' I followed his advice and stayed under my table. Breathe. Breathe.

'Ok, I'm calm-' A loud angry screech interrupted me. 'No I'm not! No I'm not!'

'Nat!' Strider said. 'You have to calm down! For one, you are deafening me.' He sent a mental picture of him delicately touching his ears. I grinned weakly and tried to calm myself by taking deeper breaths.

'So where are you?' I asked Strider, trying to distract myself.

'A room on the other side of the Inn.' Strider sent me a picture of the corridor at the top of the stairs and showed me which door was his.

'I'll stay under this table all night I think,' I told Strider. 'I don't need to frightened the hobbits after those things.'

'They have to meet you sometime,' Strider pointed out.

'Tomorrow in the daylight will be soon enough,' I replied. 'Preferably outside of town when they can't escape. I'll scout ahead for a while first. I presume we are taking those stupid marshes again?' Disgust filled my tone as I remember the last time I'd ventured into the Midgewater Marshes.

'Yep,' Strider announced. 'It's the only place I can think of that the Black Riders won't follow us.'

'Oh goody.' I placed my paws over my head and hunkered down still furthur in the corner under the table. 'I'll be sleeping now that those things seem to have gone. Come sit at my table in the morning ok?'

'Okies,' Strider said. 'Night Nat.'

END CHAPTER

Well, I know I haven't updated in a while. My apologies. I tend to read fanfiction more than I write it. I also am aware this chapter sucks a bit. Sorry again. Hopefully you'll give me some feedback and stick with me. Reviews ALWAYS appreciated!

Luvs,

TheWall


	9. Chapter Nine

DISCLAIMER: Don't own anything that the wonderful author of the Lord of the Rings does.

Hey guys, new chappie here. Will try to make the chapters longer and all since I know the last one especially rather sucked. Thanks for the reviews I received. Always helpful to know opinions. Someone mentioned Strider saying okies in the last chapter. Thanks, that wasn't supposed to be there. Will fix it at some point. Someone else mentioned her reaction to killing those orcs by ripping out the throat. My thoughts were, she's been hunting for food now for a while. The first time she caught food then sure, she probably barfed. However she's been hunting for ages by the time she meets orcs. Orcs aren't human so she wasn't particularly worried. And the throat is the only vulnerable place in their armour. She will probably react differently when she kills humans. And before you say anything about the Basala Riders, she didn't actually kill any of them. She was just biting them and stuff. Hope that explanation helped. Here's the next chapter.

(Twin Sign Language)

'Mind Speech'

"Speech"

Chapter Eight

Strider and I exited the township the next morning, heading for Bill Ferny's place.

'Tell me again why you need to visit this moron?' I asked Strider as we neared our destination.

'We need a pony to serve as a pack horse,' Strider said sighing. 'There are no others left in Bree.'

'Alright fine,' I replied. 'But I ain't going in there with you. I'll meet you later on.' So saying, I split from Strider and headed on up the road.

About an hour later I finally caught sight of Strider leading the hobbits out of town.

'About time,' I said.

'You try getting these hobbits to stop eating,' was his irritated comment. Oooookay, I thought. I'll just lay low for a while and maybe Strider won't bite me. I had to laugh however, when one of the hobbits threw an apple and smacked Bill Ferny in the face. I had a feeling that maybe I would come to like these hobbits. I knew it for a fact when there was a bit of a thing about breakfast. Which may I just say that they had already had. Do they ever stop eating? Strider threw them apples but we haven't stopped. Good thing too, since if we stopped every time they were hungry we wouldn't be moving.

As we walked farther from Bree, I walked out of sight behind the hobbits. Apparently not as out of sight as I thought though.

"Strider!" The hobbit that had hit Bill Ferny in the face caught Strider's attention. "Strider sir! There's something following us!"

'Don't worry,' I caught his worry before it began. 'It's just me. You know, you're lovely companion that's holding the back trail.'

'Nat, when are you going to show yourself?' Strider replied. 'We're heading into the Swamp now.'

'Now's good,' I sent. Leaping out of cover I ran toward the hobbits who froze in fright. Giving a growling bark, I ran all out towards them.

"Strider!"

'You still say we're supposed to trust the fate of the world to these hobbits?' I asked Strider.

'Nat, what are you doing?' Strider said impatiently. 'I thought the plan was NOT to scare them off?'

'You worry too much,' I replied. I reached the four hobbits and leaped over their heads. Racing towards Strider I saw realization dawn.

"Nat, stop! No!"

I ended his protests by jumping at him and pushing him to the ground. Growling I leaned towards his face and . . . licked him.

"UUURRRRGGGHHHH! Nat!" Strider pushed me off him. The four hobbits looked rather confused and scared.

"Strider, what is that?" one of the hobbits asked.

"This is my companion, Nat," Strider answered. "She's an intelligent being so don't ever call her a beast. She knows exactly what you're saying so feel free to chat with her. She was the one watching our back trail, Sam." He continued silently to me. 'The one on the right is Frodo. He's the one with the Ring. Next to him is Sam. He's very protective of Frodo. No, Nat,' he glared at me warningly. 'I forbid you to use that against him in any way, shape or form.'

'Aww, damn,' I replied, but conceded the point. We wanted the hobbits to trust us.

'Then there are the troublemakers, Merry and Pippin, I believe their names are.'

'You only think you know their names?' I asked.

'Well, none of them actually introduced themselves to me officially. I just picked up their names through the conversations they had.'

'So . . . troublemakers you say?' I grinned mentally. 'After we get to Rivendell . . .' Strider just groaned.

Now that I didn't have to stay out of sight I ran on ahead. I was eager to get to Rivendell and see the twins again. We had become quite close during my stays at their home over the past few years. After travelling for some time we were finally getting closer. Strider interrupted my thoughts.

'We'll stop at Weathertop for the night,' he enlightened me.

'Wonderful,' I said sarcastically. The watchtower had a forbidding feeling to it whenever we'd walked through it before, and we hadn't STAYED there then.

'Nat,' Strider said impatiently. 'Do you have to have a comment to every decision I make?'

'Yes,' I replied innocently. 'I just can't help myself.'

'So true,' both Strider and Bob said in unison.

'Oi!' I replied. Both just laughed. Sad they didn't know each other really; they really do think alike sometimes. We stopped part way up the watchtower. Strider opened a cloth he'd kept folded in his cloak.

"Each of you take one of these," he told the hobbits.

'And what do you expect them to do with those?' I asked. 'They don't know anything about swordsmanship.'

'That's why you're gonna stay here,' Strider said. 'Between the swords and you, they should be able to stay alive long enough for me to get here.'

'Where are you going?' I asked, frowning mentally at him.

'Scouting around,' he said, and faded into the darkness.

'Oh great, thanks,' I said dryly in the darkness.

'Look on the bright side,' Bob said. 'You are finally getting to do something about your purpose in being here in the first place.'

'What? Baby-sit hobbits?' I asked.

'No, you moron,' Bob sighed with exasperation. 'But the hobbits have the fate of this world in their hands, or pocket rather, at this point but whatever.'

'Hmm . . . ' I agreed. 'If only saving the world were more fun and less danger, don't you reckon?'

'If it were fun and less dangerous then anyone could do it and there wouldn't be heroes,' Bob pointed out.

'True, true, makes me not want to be a hero - not that I wanted this in the first place,' I grumbled.

Bob turned serious. 'Nat, would you change anything of these past six years? Think and answer honestly.'

I thought seriously. Would I give up Strider's companionship? Where would I be without the twins to terrorise Rivendell with? Sure I had missed my family and friends at first and they would always be a part of me, but I have other friends and family now . . . 'You know, I think I wouldn't trade anything,' I said. 'If I didn't come here I wouldn't have met Strider, the twins, the old crotchety wizard, even you are like part my family now, you know? I wouldn't trade any of my time here for anything . . .'

'Including when almost every single one of Strider's friends try and kill you?' Bob laughed at me.

'I wouldn't even trade that thank you very much!' I poked my tongue out. 'Besides I made up for that when I had Rivendell on it's toes every time we arrived!' Bob laughed with me. I turned my attention back to the hobbits and our surroundings. 'What are those idiots doing!' I growled and ran over to the fire. My growl woke Frodo.

"What are you doing?" he cried.

"Nice crispy bacon," Merry replied.

"We've saved some for you Mr Frodo," Sam said.

"Put it out you fools!" Frodo yelled and kicked ashes over the fire. The protests of the other hobbits were drowned out by the screams of the Black Riders. Great, I thought to myself.

'STRIDER! RING WRAITHS!' I yelled.

'On my way!' Strider replied. 'Keep them away from the hobbits!'

As the Ring Wraiths surrounded the hobbits in the tower I ran between them. Growling, I showed my teeth. The Black Riders appeared confused and hesitated.

'Huh,' I said to Strider. 'Who woulda thunk it? The Black Riders don't know what I am.'

'Gee, considering you're the only German Shepard in the entire land, I'm not surprised,' Strider said sarcastically. I kept growling and stalked forward toward the Ring Wraiths. They backed off slowly.

'How far away are you?' I asked Strider.

'Just coming up the last hill now,' Strider replied.

'Oh good,' I replied. 'Don't suppose you could hurry it up a bit? I'm about to be mutilated.' I wasn't kidding either. One of the Wraiths decided to see how much of a threat I was and swung it's sword at me. I ducked. Now wasn't a good time to be losing my head. However, ducking had alerted the Wraiths to the fact that I can still die like a mortal. I was forced to leap aside and duck. Slowly they were forcing me away from the hobbits. I noticed this first when I heard Frodo scream in pain.

'STRIDER!' I called once again.

'Here!' Strider burst into the clearing, swinging sword and torch, pushing back the Wraiths. Leaving Strider to deal with that I ran over to Frodo. Looking at the wound and sword within it, I realized we had to move fast to Rivendell or hope was lost. I wandered back into the forest in the opposite direction from the Black Riders, to look for the Kingsfoil weed. We would need it before the journey was over.

Another chapter done. Finally, you all say. :D Sorry about the slow updating. To be honest I don't know when I'll be updating. How about: I promise nothing then you don't expect much, and get surprised when I update! Anyway, thanks for reading and thanks for reviewing! Luv yaz all!


	10. Chapter Ten

Disclaimer: LOTR isn't mine, sadly. Good movie, and book. Nat is mine though.

Thanks for all your reviews! Nice to know you're enjoying it. Also, would like to thank Rach for being my beta reader. She's brill, let's me bounce ideas and waffle on for ages about stuff. So let's all give a big hand to Rach! claps so enthusiastically that accidentally falls off computer chair By the way, anything said between elves in previous chapters was said in elvish. Here's the next chapter.

"speech"

'mind speech'

thoughts

Elvish

(twin sign language)

CHAPTER NINE

'Nat! Where are you?' Strider's voice broke into my thoughts. 'Can you help me find the Athelas plant?'

'Been looking for a while now,' I replied. 'Not much luck though. I'll keep looking.' A slight noise from my right caused me to head in that direction.

'Strider, you might want to look behind you,' I pointed out, noticing the form walking silently up behind him.

"What's this? A ranger caught off his guard?" A knife was held to Strider's throat. Strider grinned as I let out a growl from behind her.

"Not quite," he replied.

"Oh yes," she sighed. "You always have your mutt around now." She put her knife away. "I've been looking for you for three days."

"Who's she?" I heard from one of the hobbits as we entered the clearing.

"She's an Elf," Sam answered, his voice filled with awe.

I snorted. 'Imagine: awe at Elves,' I sent to Strider, who was sorting out the Atheas we had found.

'You were in the same state six years ago,' Strider pointed out.

'That wasn't at the Elves,' I objected. 'That was my first sight of Rivendell.'

'Which, by the way, is a city of Elves,' Strider put in with a grin.

'I give up,' I sent a picture of hands being thrown up into the air. 'It's pointless arguing with stubborn, stupid humans.' Strider just laughed. Arwen's voice interrupted us.

Frodo. I am Arwen. I've come to help you. Hear my voice. Come back to the light. Arwen called. She gathered him into her arms. "We must get him to my father." In no time at all she was off with Frodo in her arms.

"What are you doing? Those Wraiths are still out there!" The hobbits all looked panicked and worried.

'We have to hurry,' Strider said. 'Those Riders will now follow Frodo but we still need to get to Rivendell as fast as possible.'

Strider wasn't kidding either. We walked at the fastest pace the hobbits could keep up with. Of course, with the danger somewhat away from us, I grew bored quickly.

'On the road again,' I broke into song. 'Just can't wait to get on the road ag-'

'I don't suppose you could shut up for once?' Bob interrupted.

'Awww but Strider likes my singing!' I protested. 'Don't you Strider?'

'What?' Strider gave me a confused glance.

'Like my singing?' I asked.

'Sometimes,' he grinned. 'That song just about cracks it though.'

'See?' Bob laughed hysterically.

'Ok fine,' I grumbled. 'No one in this stupid place appreciates FINE music.' We continued to walk. And walk. And walk some more. Until finally. . .

"Golly!" The hobbits were awestruck by the beauty of the elf-city.

'It's good to be home,' I sighed.

'Totally,' Strider agreed. 'Look who's here.' I followed his gaze to the two identical elves emerging in front of us. They grinned and reached out to pat me with smirks on their faces.

"Welcome home all," they chorused. I ducked out from under their hands just as they were about to pat my fur. Honestly, I didn't trust those grins. They wore the same grin I used to wear as a pranking human back home. Also the same grin that was generally with me and not against me for the past six years. As I ducked they hit Strider instead. And left hand prints over his clothing. Blue hand prints.

'Hahahahaha!' I couldn't help myself. The twins dived at me and I ran. 'See you later, Strider!' I called behind me. 'I'll be there in time for dinner!' Strider just laughed.

ENDOFCHAPTER

sorry its so short pplz! my profuse apologies! i totally have ideas for the rest of the story, i just have problems putting them down. don't shoot me please! hopefully more will appear soon

luv y'all for reading!


	11. Chapter Eleven

Sorry about the major long time between updates! I moved in with my bro a few months ago and haven't had access to the internet on my computer so even though I've been writing (slowly), it hasn't been being updated. I have however now moved out and am living elsewhere so have the internet back. YAY!! By the way, to those who were saying I need speech things around the Elvish: I have been putting things around the Elvish, it's just not uploading to the net when I upload the chapter. I have tried to use a different thing this time and we'll see if it works. I'll change the other chapters at some point.

Disclaimer: LOTR is not mine but Nat is. There are direct quotes in here from the council of elrond. These, obviously, are also, not mine.

Also, any quotes from other things that pop up in my story are completely by accident, I do it while talking too. Just ask Rach.

"Common tongue"

'my thought communication'

(twin signs)

-Elvish-

Chapter Ten

It must have been a strange sight that greet the newcomers entering Rivendell, a few days after our somewhat¼ er¼ interesting entrance. A laughing set of twins rushed past, bowing on the run.

"Welcome to Rivendell," they chorused. "We do apologize for the lack of proper greeting as we are in a bit of hurry right now. Someone will do the proper honours shortly." They continued their run as Legolas watched bemusedly. His face suddenly turned to laughter as Strider and I ran through, also bowing on the run but not saying anything, simply rushing off again. I knew what caused his laughter too. Strider and I both had fluorescent green hair. Or fur in my case. It had turned to open war between the four of us since our arrival. Me and Strider had teamed up against the twins in retaliation for the hand prints and it went uphill from there. Or downhill as the other elves in Rivendell probably saw it.

As we chased after Elladan and Elrohir I wondered if the twins had noticed where they were being herded. Given that they hadn't tried to change direction yet I was running with a resounding 'no'. I grinned gleefully as I saw the pond coming up. Strider and I dived for the twins at the same time.

-That was for dying my hair green!- Strider said as he pushed Elladan into the pond.

'Yeah! That was for dying his hair green!' I put in, pushing Elrohir after his brother.

-My hair?- Strider asked me.

'Certainly,' I replied. 'I think I like my green furred look.'

-Hey!- The twins had surfaced. -You aren't supposed to LIKE the green hair!-

Strider and I both snickered. A voice from behind joined us in laughter. Turning around we found the source.

-I love the new look Estel,- Legolas said as he appeared from the bushes. -Are you going to wear that to dinner?-

'Dinner?' I asked suddenly sober. 'When's dinner?'

-When's dinner?- Elrohir echoed my question as he wrung out his dripping hair.

-About half an hour away,- Strider replied after consulting the sun. -There's time for guests to settle into their rooms before dinner, and enough time for us to have a bath. Come on Nat.-

'Oh no!' I said, backing away. 'You aren't getting me anywhere NEAR a bath, thank you very much.'

'You are very much a dog right now,' Bob laughed.

'Oh ha ha,' I sent direct to him. 'I just don't see the point in having a bath when a good scratch and lick are fine!'

Bob continued to snicker. 'Have you noticed you're GREEN?' I poked my tongue out at him.

-Nat! Come on! You can't go to dinner like that!- Strider came towards me, interrupting my thoughts.

'Sure I can!' I replied as I ran from the clearing. 'Who's going to stop me?' I sent a laugh ringing through his head, as I was lost from sight.

'Fine,' Strider sent. 'But I take no responsibility for Ada's reaction.'

'No worries,' I sang out in his head. 'He won't be worried about THAT.' I gave him a moment to take in my statement, then snickered at his reply.

'Nat! What are you planning?' I just laughed.

BREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKBREAKBREAK

Sneaking through the familiar doorway into the kitchen, I peered around, looking for the Head Cook. I watched in amusement as the other elves in the room deliberately turned away, as they had done each time I appeared in the doorway for the last six years. I appeared there at least once every time I was in Rivendell.

'Boo!' I just about jumped out of my skin. Only my time with Strider kept me from moving.

'So not funny!' I snapped at the laughing voice in the back of my head. Bob just laughed. Honestly, I couldn't even bite him! Reduced to trying to ignore him, I took another look around for the Cook, and, not seeing him in sight, I slipped silently over to the plate of sausages sitting on the counter. Grabbing a string in my mouth, I snuck silently back towards the door.

-Ahem!- The voice stopped me in my tracks as I reached the door. The Head Cook was standing 4 feet away, thumping the flat of a knife blade into his palm. -Did you really think you could sneak in here when your fur is GREEN?-

'Toodles!' I shot out the door and ran down the hallways. With the Cook on my heels I ran through various corridors before heading for the doors to the Great Hall.

Bursting through the doors, I frantically tried to stop my headlong flight. As soon as I had entered the room, dwarves, men and a few elves had pulled their weapons.

'SHIT!'

'Nat! Did you have to pick tonight??' Strider asked, as confusion reigned for a few moments. As fast as the dwarves, men, and unknown elves were to draw their weapons, the elves from Rivendell also leapt the tables - to come to my protection. First and foremost being the very elf that was chasing me with a meat cleaver in the first place.

'He does love me!' I mock-sniffed. 'I'm touched.'

'Yeah,' Strider confirmed. 'In the head.'

'Hey!' I protested. 'I do this every time we're in Rivendell. Why should I not have done it this time?'

'But tonight?? Now???' Strider shook his head.

"Enough!" The voice broke over every argument in the hall. Heads turned to Elrond at the main table. "Now, if everyone could PLEASE sit down." Muted, everyone went back to their places and sat down, except me and the cook, who was still standing protectively in front of me with the meat cleaver raised for defence, determined that no one would harm me. "Thank you. Now, none of you will be killing or harming that animal in any way. Estel, please take Natalie back to your rooms and lock her in. Maybe it will keep her out of mischief for five minutes."

'Oi!' I said to Strider. 'I can keep out of mischief for more than five minutes.'

'I agree.' Strider replied. 'More than six might be pushing it though.'

'Everyone is against me,' I moaned as Strider reached me. Laughter echoed in my head.

-Come on Nat!- Strider commanded aloud, for appearances sake.

"That thing is his?"

"Who is he to have a dangerous animal as a pet?"

"What is it?"

Before I left, I raised my eyes to the cook. Meeting his gaze, I licked his hand in thanks, knowing our chase had become something slightly more. Then I turned and followed Strider from the room.

BREAKBREAKBREAKBREAK

Author's Note: End of chapter people but hey! Guess what!! The next chapter is also written and on it's way. So you'll get 2 whole chapters within a very short space of time!! Wow!!! Remember to review as I love to hear what your thoughts are.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Hey all! A new chapter already! Told you I'd already wrote one. Which is probably a good thing since I'm now at university (go me!) so I don't have too much time to write. However I will keep plodding onwards and hopefully I'll get a few more reviews. Enjoy the chapter, I know I did.

BREAKBREAKBREAK

Thoughts interrupted the snack I was eating. They were disjointed, as though they were only being transmitted accidentally. As I traced them, I found the owner in the dark, standing before the shards of his ancestor's sword.

'Strider, why are you afraid of the past?' Silence followed. I could guess though. 'You are yourself. Don't think you'll be anyone else.'

-The same blood flows through my veins¼ - The thought that followed the statement was quiet and barely there, not meant to be heard. '¼ the same weakness¼ '

'You are NOT weak,' I spaced my thought out to emphasis it. 'A weak person could never do half the things you and your rangers do! So don't bullshit me about being weak. There is a difference between everyone, even a child and his parents or ancestor. I mean, god, look at me! None of my ancestors were dogs! This is a new one! You may be your ancestor's descendant, but you will make decisions based on your own character not his!'

Strider's eyes flicked to my shadowy corner and a half smile appeared on his face for a second, before he turned back to the sword. The silence lengthened once again.

'You will face the same evil, Strider,' I said quietly. 'But you will defeat it.'

'How can you be so sure?' Strider asked doubtfully.

'Because I know you.' I moved forward and leaned on his leg, offering comfort. 'I'll be there for you all the way.'

He snorted, coming out of his thoughts. 'As if I could get rid of you anyway.' I grinned.

BREAKBREAKBREAKBREAK

'Nat!' Pippin's voice broke through my musings. I turned toward the hobbit. Merry was standing next to him. Both of them looking like they were up to something.. "Do you happen to know where everyone is?"

I suddenly clicked. They wanted to 'drop eaves' on the council. I grinned and nodded. If there was going to be trouble, I wanted to be there.

'Nat, you are usually the CAUSE of the trouble,' Bob put in, laughing. 'Maybe you should stay away and they'd be safer.'

"Can you take us there?" Pippin looked eager. I nodded enthusiastically, then bounded off eager to be helpful.

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Merry whispered behind me. 

Pippin, who was in front, said, "Sure. How do you ever expect to learn anything if you don't eavesdrop?" It was quiet as they continued to follow.

"We'll see better over there," Pippin whispered to Merry as we made it to the clearing. They quietly edged around to the pillars on the other side of the council, leaving me hidden in the bushes. We'd arrived as Elrond stood from his seat.

"Strangers from distant lands, friends of old," he began. "You've been summoned here to answer the threat of Mordor. Middle Earth stands upon the brink of destruction. None can escape it. You will unite or you will fall. Each race is bound to this fate, this one doom. Bring forth the ring, Frodo." I watched as Frodo stood from his seat in the circle and pulled the ring from his pocket. The poor hobbit looked rather worse for the wear after that attack on Weathertop. He looked a lot better than he did when he first came to Rivendell though. Of course, he could've been in a train wreck and look better than he did then.

"So it is true¼ " All eyes were drawn to Boromir, son of the Steward of Gondor. "A dream. I saw the Eastern sky grow dark but in the West a pale light lingered. A voice was crying 'Doom is near at hand. Isildur's Bane is found ... Isildur's Bane¼ ' As he spoke Boromir had stood and walked toward the ring, reaching for it.

The most hideous language I'd ever heard broke from Gandalf's lips. A gust of wind blew through the bushes where I lay, and the place appeared to darken. There was complete silence when Gandalf stopped. It was broken by Elrond.

"Never before has anyone uttered the words of that tongue here in Imladris."

"I do not ask your pardon, Master Elrond, for the Black Speech of Mordor may yet be heard in every corner of the West. The ring is altogether evil." After that speech, Gandalf sat back down, and silence reigned once more. Boromir spoke up.

"It is a gift. A gift to the foes of Mordor. Why not use this ring? Long has my father, the Steward of Gondor kept the forces of Mordor at bay. By the blood of our people are your lands kept safe. Give Gondor the weapon of the enemy. Let us use it against him." I rolled my eyes. Obviously, Boromir wasn't listening to Gandalf just now.

"You cannot wield it. None of us can. The one ring answers to Sauron alone. It has no other master." Strider contradicted Boromir strongly.

Boromir turned to him and sneered. "And what would a ranger know of this matter?"

I growled quietly causing the elves to glance around. 'Whoops.'

'Indeed,' Strider replied. 'Where might you be hiding?'

'Behind the elf that's now getting irritated on your behalf,' I sent back, watching as Legolas stood up.

"This is no mere ranger. He is Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You owe him your allegiance."

'Dammit! I didn't want it to come out that way,' Strider thought was full of frustration.

"Aragorn?" Boromir sounded surprised.

'Huh! Take that, you, you, you MAN!' I must have sounded quite intense because the next thing I got was, 'Down, girl!' from Strider, with a laugh.

"This is Isildur's heir?" Boromir didn't sound very thrilled. 

"And heir to the throne of Gondor," Legolas confirmed.

Aragorn sighed in my head. -Sit down, Legolas.- His attention then turned to me as he had a sudden thought. 'You don't sound very surprised.'

'Of course not,' I sent. 'I've known for four years. You mean you didn't connect during our conversation earlier?'

The look of shock on Aragorn's face was laughable, before it was wiped off. 'Of course not. I was slightly distracted if you'll recall.'

'Oh yes,' I remembered. 'What I said in there was true. I will be with you always.'

Strider acknowledged my statement then had a sudden thought. 'How the hell did you find out?' he demanded. 

Ignoring both him and the council I didn't answer. Instead I fell back into memories.

BREAKBREAKBREAKBREAK

I lay and watched Strider get tended to by a fellow ranger. That arrow wound looked horrible. Some protector I was. He still bloody got hurt.

'He still needs you,' Bob broke into my negative thoughts.

'Why would he need me?' I shot back. 'I mean, I've been with him two whole years and nothing that seems important enough to bring me to this world has shown up. He's even still managed to get hurt! Some big protector I am.'

'Everything in life is important even though it may seem insignificant at the time,' Bob sounded gentle. 'I never said you had to protect him physically. I said you had to protect him. There are other ways. In the past two years, you have kept him sane when he doubted himself. Never say you aren't important. Even if you aren't doing anything other than sitting beside him, he still knows you're there. Sometimes that helps more than anything else.'

'Not that it matters, as I would be with him anyway,' I started. 'But why is he so important anyway?' I glanced back over to Strider, trying to figure him out.

Bob sighed. 'He is the most important person in middle earth. He is the hope of man.'

'Huh?' I asked blankly.

'You ever heard that the line of kings faded?'

'Yeah, no one knows what happened to them.'

'That man over there is the Heir.'

I stared at Strider. 'Bloody hell!' He certainly didn't carry himself as a king.

'He's been running from his past for a long time, Nat,' Bob said. 'That's why he needs you. His past is going to catch up with him at some point in the next few years.'

As I gazed at Strider, I knew I'd stick with him and help him. And not because he was important to the world. I was doing it because he was important to me.

BREAKBREAKBREAKBREAK

"Never trust an elf!" Gimli's voice entered my mind, bringing me back to the present. I blinked. Everyone in the council was on their feet screaming at each other. There were a few exceptions. Strider, Frodo and Elrond were sitting in their respective seats watching.

'What the hell did I miss?' I asked Strider.

'Oh you're back are you?' he replied. 'Your mind blanked off for a while there.'

'Sorry,' I apologized. 'Lost in memories.' Frodo's voice interrupted.

"I will take it! ¼ I will take it!" he repeated to make himself heard. Silence reigned. "I will take the ring to Mordor ¼ though, I do not know the way."

"I will help you bear this burden, Frodo Baggins, for as long as it is yours to bear." Gandalf placed his hand on Frodo's shoulder. I glanced at Strider and saw him step forward. 

"If by my life or death I can protect you, I will. You have my sword."

'Oh crap! Another way for you to get into trouble.' I sighed resignedly.

'Nat, I've been thinking,' Strider started.

'Really? Wow!' Sarcasm was my thing at the moment.

'Nat!'

'I, obviously, will be accompanying you on your noble quest,' I sent to Strider dryly. 'And don't even start. It's been six years, just give up already.'

Sam voice appeared next to Frodo "Hey! Mr Frodo's not going anywhere without me!"

Elrond looked slightly amused. "No indeed it is hardly possible to separate you two. Even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not."

Merry and Pippin leapt out from hiding. "Oi! We're coming too! You'd have to send us home tied up in a sack to stop us." Elrond looked slightly put out that all the hobbits had listened in on his 'Secret' council. I sniggered. Even Strider's thoughts were tinged with amusement.

"Anyway, you need people of intelligence on this sort of mission ¼ quest ¼ thing," Pippin put in.

"Well that rules you out Pip.," Merry said. My thoughts turned to outright laughter at this.

Elrond looked over the group standing at the edge of the council area, which Legolas, Boromir and one of the dwarves had added themselves to, while Strider and I were conversing. "Nine companions. So be it. You shall be the Fellowship of the Ring."

'Nine? What about your faithful dog?' I asked Strider.

'I don't think Elrond counted you,' Strider replied.

"Great! Where are we going?" Pippin asked. This caused my laughter from before to turn hysterical. If I wasn't trying to stay hidden I would be rolling on the ground. As it was I was jostling the bushes as I shook silently.

"You all represent the races of Middle Earth," Elrond started. I, however, didn't hear anymore. I realized once again: I had no family like me. I was the only one of my race in this entire world. The air rushed out of me and I stopped laughing. I fled the clearing.

BREAKBREAK

Author Note: So proud of myself! 2 chapters almost at once! Rach has been tying me to my computer once a week so thank her by clapping loudly. claps In the meantime, reviews are ALWAYS appreciated. Anything I can improve on, did well, etc etc. Luv yaz!


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Hello to anyone who is still reading this - am having doubts here due to serious lack of reviews - third chapter up in three weeks!! This has got to be some kind of record! Wooohooo! Don't know how often I'll be doing it from now onwards since I'm at Uni and have a few major essays to write, however I promise it won't be a year before the next update. Do review please coz I love encouragement and thoughts about what I'm writing. Do be honest, I'm not sure of this chapter so do let me know what you think. Happy reading!

-Elvish-

"speech"

'thoughts between minds'

Disclaimer: see previous chapters

Chapter 11

I ran from the council area with no real destination in mind. As I appeared near the entrance to valley I ignored the waterfall within walking distance and flopped down by the edge of the cliff.

'Hey,' Bob spoke into my thoughts.

'Hey,' I replied gloomily. 'I don't suppose you know of any other German Shepards in this world?'

'Is it species or family that really matters?' Bob asked gently.

'Aren't they the same thing?' I asked in confusion.

'Not necessarily,' Bob started, then broke off. I sensed a presence come up behind me.

-Nat?- Elrond's voice surprised me. Of all the people to follow me Elrond was the one I least expected. -May I sit with you?-

I gazed at him in surprise. He wanted an answer?

Elrond smiled slightly. - With all the chaos you seem to cause around my home did you expect me to miss that you and my sons can communicate?-

'Huh?' I felt very eloquent right then. Elrond sat silently and allowed what he'd said to sink in. The fact that he'd known I could communicate wasn't such a revelation I suppose since he always seemed to know what went on in Rivendell. I went back to my thoughts.

-Nat, would you like to let me know what's happening?- Elrond asked. -You seemed eager to leave the council.-

'I wasn't aware you knew I was there,' was the first thought that sprang to my mind.

Elrond smiled. -That growl was hard for an elf's ears to miss.- He didn't seem to think it odd to hear my voice in his head.

I stayed silent for a while, knowing he still waited for an answer to his earlier query. He sat there patiently, petting me every now and then.

'Sometimes it gets so lonely,' I said quietly. 'Most of the time it doesn't matter but then, what you said at the council … about representing each race … I don't have a race in this world, there's just me. I miss a family.' I lifted my gaze to the stars. 'It makes me feel quite small in the universe.'

Elrond stayed quiet for a time before replying. - Most of the time, families are those in blood relationships with us.- He paused. - But they don't have to be. The family we choose can be just as close as blood. Estel, whom you love to stay around, was not a blood son of mine, however I would be just as devastated losing him as one of my other sons, or daughter.-

I looked at him rather blankly as I wondered where he was going with this. Bob had seemed to be going to a similar place before Elrond had appeared.

-My sons think of you as part of their family,- he continued quietly. -As much chaos as you cause around my home, you are definitely a character and my household would miss you were you to disappear.-

This caused me to pause. 'I'm part of your family?' I asked uncertainly. I felt close to Strider but I didn't know any feelings were reciprocated.

-Are you kidding? Of course, you're family! You mutt!- It was Strider who answered that and I turned around to see the twins and Aragorn appear by the edge of the cliff with Arwen.

-You've been around for six years now,- Elrohir continued.

-You've certainly become part of life around here,- Elladan pick up where his twin left off. My gaze passed around the group as each one spoke.

-You have a family now, Nat,- Arwen said.

-Don't ever think you're alone,- Elrond spoke. -You may be a dog on the outside, but your personality is on the inside, and you ARE a part of our family.-

It was all said with such certainty that I couldn't help but believe them. 'Thanks guys,' I sent quietly.

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'Nat!' Strider's voice sounded slightly panicked. 'Where are you? We're leaving!'

A snigger was all he got as a reply.

'Nat!'

A couple of screams rang out, causing the assembling members of the fellowship to look around. I entered the clearing with a satisfied grin, noticing that only two members of the fellowship were missing.

Strider turned to look at me. 'Where might you have been?'

'Nowhere,' I said innocently. The remaining two members of the fellowship ran stumbling through the archway.

"Sorry we're late," Merry gasped out.

"Yeah," Pippin added. "We were - delayed." A bark of laughter popped out my mouth.

'Nowhere?' Strider asked.

'Of course,' I sat myself down with injured pride. 'I don't cause trouble.'

"What is that thing doing here?" Boromir sneered at me.

"Hey, you mean Nat's coming?" Pippin asked excitedly.

'Would I be going somewhere else?' I asked Strider.

'One can only hope,' he started innocently.

'Oi!' I protested. Strider, and Bob, who had been listening in, laughed down my link.

"Yes, she's coming," Strider told Pippin.

"What?" Boromir said. You know, I could really dislike him. I bared my teeth and growled at him.

'Oh, like that'll help relations,' Bob put in sarcastically.

"That thing is dangerous!" Boromir pointed at my teeth as proof.

"She's getting rather insulted by you, Boromir," Strider stated. "If you hadn't insulted her, she wouldn't be growling at you."

"She's travelled with Aragorn for years," Gandalf said. "It's pointless arguing since she'll just follow him anyway. Personally, if I were you, I'd rather know she's with me, rather than following your back trail. Especially if she's feeling slighted by you." This last caused me to move a little closer to Boromir to tease him.

-Nat, stop it now,- Strider commanded. 'Please. We need to leave.' I went to his side and stopped growling.

"Now that we've all agreed that Nat is coming," I saw Boromir snort in the background at Gandalf's statement. Legolas didn't say much but I saw him grin at the twin sons of Elrond, who had turned up to watch us leave. Gimli had watched the exchange in silence. 

"The fellowship awaits the Ringbearer," Gandalf said importantly, causing Frodo to turn toward the entrance. I looked back at Elrond and the twins.

'You have a family,' a voice entered my head. Elladan nodded at me.

'So you'd better come back to it,' Elrohir finished. I held Elrond's eyes a moment, before turning and following the fellowship.

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'You know, it's weird to think I've been here six years,' I told Bob, as we walked.

'Yep, six years last month,' Bob confirmed. 'It's the twenty fifth of December today.'

'WHAT?' I thought. I saw Strider wince at the volume. 'Sorry. But it's CHRISTMAS and you didn't TELL ME!?'

'Do you remember what happened last time?' Strider asked. 'I'm thinking Gandalf doesn't want to be reminded.'

'But he made such a GREAT Santa Claus!' I laughed. 'Besides, he thinks that was the twins.' I paused. 'I think. He did give me that look though. Maybe he knows I was involved.' I thought about that for a second. 'But it's irrelevant anyway,' I bounced right back. 'That was last year! This is this year! And what's Christmas without carols?'

'Oh no!' Strider and Bob groaned together. With that, I broke into song.

'Deck the halls with bell of holly, Falalalala, Lalalala.' As I sang I accompanied myself with a splendid instrument if I do say so myself.

"What's up with her, Strider?" Merry asked.

"Oh nothing's wrong," Strider replied, "She's just singing," then finished in my thoughts, 'Which is fine if you discount the howling.'

'Oi! That's not howling,' I protested. 'That's a brilliant accompaniment to my singing.'

"Singing?" Pippin asked in confusion.

"Nat, would you quit singing Christmas Carols?" Strider said in frustration.

"That's singing?" Sam said incredulously.

"What's a Christmas Carol?" Merry asked. I stopped mid-song and stared at Merry.

'He doesn't know what a Carol is?' I thought. 'Oh my Gosh!'

'Nat, he probably doesn't even know what Christmas is,' Bob said wryly. 'You had to explain it to Elladan and Elrohir, remember?'

'Oh yes,' I said. 'Damn, and I can't explain to these guys. They aren't even aware I can talk!'

'You can't talk to anyone other than Strider and me this whole trip,' Bob confirmed. 'Such a hardship!' He snorted in laughter. I stuck my nose in the air and stalked off to scout ahead. Sadly, while I can leave everyone else behind, I can't get away from the perpetual voice in my head.

'That sounds sane,' Bob noted. 'You're hearing voices.'

'Voice,' I corrected. 'And a bloody annoying one at that.'

'Oi!' Bob objected. I just laughed.

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'Strider,' I sent back from my scouting around. 'I found a place to stop for a break up here. You can see quite far in many directions and it's got plenty of rocks to sit on.'

'Sounds fine,' Strider replied. 'We'll be there soon.' I flopped down on a rock to wait.

"Hi Nat," Pippin greeted when they reached me. I wagged my tail.

"Let's have a rest," Gandalf said looking around. "It's a good vantage point to stop."

'I said that already,' I said indignantly to Strider.

'Nat, he can't hear you so how would he know?' Strider sent dryly.

'Oh,' I said. 'Right.' Everyone had taken a load off by now and Sam had pulled some food out and was preparing it for cooking.

"Merry, Pippin," Boromir said. "Bring out your swords and we'll see what you can do."

'Prick themselves?' I offered.

'Nat!' Strider scolded. 'Be nice.'

'Fine, fine,' I grumbled jokingly. I moved over to sit beside Strider. 'Scratch behind my ear would you? I can't reach it.' Strider grinned, then leaned over and rubbed my itchy spot. I pushed against his hand. 'Thanks, that's great,' I moaned in grateful bliss. I sat there delighting in the ear rub.

"If anyone were to ask my opinion, which I note they're not," Gimli started, interrupting my bliss.

'Why continue then?' I grumbled.

'Nat,' Strider scolded. 'Is there any reason you're being particularly mean today?'

'No,' I replied. 'It's just that any thoughts I think just HAVE to blurt from brain.'

'I'd noticed,' Strider grinned as his fingers constantly scrubbed at my ears.

'Oi!'

"-I'd say we were taking the long way round," Gimli continued. "Gandalf, we could go through the Mines of Moria. My cousin Balin would give us a royal welcome."

"No, Gimli," was Gandalf's reply. "I would not go through Moria unless I had no other choice."

'What's in Moria?' I asked Bob. 'Hitler?'

'Who?' Bob returned in confusion.

'Never mind,' I sighed. 'What's so bad about the Mines?'

'You don't want to know,' Bob replied. 'Although saying that, since it's the last place you want to be right now, it's probably where you'll end up.'

'Oh gee, thanks,' I thought sarcastically into the silence.

"Move your feet," Strider said to the sword waving hobbits. Suddenly one of them fell to the ground. A scuffle broke out as they pounced on Boromir and I had to laugh, especially when Strider got pulled in.

'The great ranger beaten by a hobbit?' I laughed out. Strider grunted and reached out with a hand. 'Aii!' I squawked out as I got dragged into the fray. 'Hardly fair!'

'What, the great Nat beaten by a human?' Strider taunted. Dragging myself free I shook the dirt from my body.

'Huh,' I replied sticking my nose in the air.

"What's that?" someone asked. I turned and looked.

'Birds?' I queried.

"Crebain from Dunland!" Legolas shouted.

"HIDE!" Suddenly everyone was in motion, Sam throwing water over the fire, and all members of the fellowship diving for cover. I was wedged under two rocks on the corner of the clearing, with a sharp stone digging into my butt.

'Well, this isn't very comfortable,' I sent, attempting to move.

'Thanks Nat,' was Strider's dry reply.

'No problem,' I replied, tongue in cheek, then stopped moving as I watched the black cloud of wings fly overhead and off into the distance. Once it was safe I shifted to move myself off the sharp rock. 'Crap,' I muttered.

'What's wrong with you?' Strider asked.

'It's rather embarrassing actually,' I started. 'Canuelpeeow.'

'Say again?' Strider looked at where I was lying.

'Shut up Bob!' I yelled at the laughter in my head. 'Er … can you help me out? I'm sorta stuck here.' Strider snorted in laughter.

'You're stuck?'

'Yeah, yeah, laugh later,' I grumbled. 'Help me out first. PLEASE?' I pulled the puppy eyes at him. I don't know why it always works coming from a dog but Strider wandered over and grabbed my fur to pull me out of my hiding place.

'Thank you,' I said with dignity. 'Feel free to laugh now.'

'Thank you for the permission,' he said soberly. Then promptly started laughing his head off. The only plus side of his laughing was that the fellowship were giving him REALLY strange looks.

"Er … Strider?" Pippin asked nervously.

"Are you alright?" Merry put in. 

'Not really,' I sent to Strider in reply to Merry's question. 'He hasn't been sane for years.'

'Hey! You're just lucky he can't hear you or I would have my revenge for that!' Strider put a leash on his laughter (finally) and nodded in Merry and Pippin's direction.

"Certainly," he replied to the hobbit's question, then switched the attention from himself. "So that pass is being watched," he said seriously to Gandalf.

"We must take the pass over the mountains of Caradhras," Gandalf replied, turning to face the distant mountain.

'Oh bugger,' was my contribution. 'Snow. I hate snow.'

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Another chapter! Go me! Push the little button down there with your fish - er, am I the only one here with a mouse that has a fish? Well, whichever animal you're using, feel free to review. J Cheers all!


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